when one is in the middle of it, it might as well be as extensive as
Sahara itself, for anything he can see to the contrary, and away off to
the right I behold as perfect a mirage as one could wish to see. A person
can scarce help believing his own eyes, and did one not have some knowledge
of these strange and wondrous phenomena, one's orbs of vision would
indeed open with astonishment; for seemingly but a few miles away is a
beautiful lake, whose shores are fringed with wavy foliage, and whose
cool waters seem to lave the burning desert sands at its edge.

A short distance to the right of Hot Springs Station broken clouds of
steam are seen rising from the ground, as though huge caldrons of water
were being heated there. Going to the spot I find, indeed, " caldrons
of boiling water;" but the caldrons are in the depths. At irregular
openings in the rocky ground the bubbling water wells to the surface,
and the fires-ah! where are the fires. On another part of this desert
are curious springs that look demure and innocuous enough most of the
time, but occasionally they emit columns of spray and steam. It is related
of these springs that once a party of emigrants passed by, and one of
the men knelt down to take a drink of the clear, nice-looking water. At
the instant he leaned over, the spring spurted a quantity of steam and
spray all over him, scaring him nearly out of his wits. The man sprang
up, and ran as if for his life, frantically beckoning the wagons to move
on, at the same time shouting, at the top of his voice, "Drive on! drive
on! hell's no great distance from here!"

>From the Forty-mile Desert my road leads up the valley of the Humboldt
River. On the shores of Humboldt Lake are camped a dozen Piute lodges,
and I make a half-hour halt to pay them a visit. I shall never know
whether I am a welcome visitor or not; they show no signs of pleasure
or displeasure as I trundle the bicycle through the sage-brush toward